Delete
by katierosefun
Summary: [Missing scene from 2x01, 'The Man Who Saved Central City'.] He should delete the beginning of the video. He should. He has to. Only Barry Allen is finding it hard to. [Caitlin and Barry friendship.]


Hello, everyone! Katierosefun aka Caroline here! This is one of my first times actually writing _Flash_ fanfic - I've written a few of my own before, but I've never gotten around actually posting them on ...only after watching the first two episodes of the second season, I really couldn't resist.

So...without further ado, read on!

* * *

 ** _Delete_**

 _"Hello, Barry. If you're watching this, that means something has gone horribly wrong. I'm dead, and the last fifteen years have been for nothing. Bummer."_

Caitlin Snow heard the voice before she saw the glowing screen. She stood still in her tracks, unsure whether or not to move forward. She didn't know how to react – she had thought that the message had been erased by now. She didn't think she'd have to hear _his_ voice speak in _that_ way again – she had trusted Barry to be done with it by now.

There was a small laugh from Harrison – _Eobard Thawne,_ came the automatic correction. _There was never a Harrison Wells. It was always Eobard Thawne, Caitlin. Remember that,_ she thought to herself. She closed her eyes briefly. _Never a Harrison Wells – always Eobard Thawne,_ she repeated in her head before walking into the room.

She found Barry sitting at her desk, his eyes trained on the laptop screen. He looked exhausted – she had thought he would, especially with all that had happened – but he looked even more so than usual. He had lit up when _Eobard_ gave the confession, and Caitlin had been so happy for him – only now…

 _"Fifteen years…and what I realized, all those years helping raise you…we were never truly enemies, Barry. I'm not the thing you hate."_

Caitlin saw the way Barry's shoulders seemed to stiffen at that line. (She had noticed it the first time they watched the video together. At this point in time, Caitlin had already worked most of Barry's actions out. He had gritted his teeth – his eyes had taken on a hard, glass-like quality that she had only seen once or twice in him.) He kept shaking his head – and yet, Caitlin noticed, he didn't make any move to delete that portion of the video, either.

 _"And so, I wanna give you the thing you want most. It won't matter. You'll never be truly happy, Barry Allen – trust me, I know you."_

Barry pushed a hand up to his forehead. He leaned against the desk, his eyes closed and a long, deep, heavy sigh blowing out of his lips. His hand started to move for the pause button before the last words of the video were played –

 _"Now, erase everything I've said up to this point and give the following message to the police – my name is Harrison Wells, being of sound mind and body, I freely confess to the murder of Nora Allen…"_

Caitlin watched with some sadness as Barry's hand moved from the pause button and back to the re-wind button. (" _Hello, Barry._ ")

"I thought you would delete that beginning scene," Caitlin finally said, walking fully into the room. She didn't miss the way Barry seemed to jump at her sudden entrance – but then, once realizing that it was only her, his face softened.

"I…" He gestured helplessly at the laptop screen. "I…already sent the video to the police. I deleted the beginning on their copy, but this one…the unedited one – I…" Barry's voice drifted. "I decided to keep it."

Caitlin frowned, slowly putting her purse on her desk. She sat down next to Barry, her eyes searching his face before flicking to the laptop screen. Eobard (or Harrison's) face was frozen on the screen, his (once familiar) blue-grey eyes nothing more than shattered pieces of glass. (They could hurt. They could stab and sting and cut through things.)

"Why?" she asked at last. Softly. Quietly. _Challenging_.

Barry gestured again. "I don't know," he answered helplessly. "I just…it's _him._ " Barry sucked in a quick breath. "It's…I mean," he let out a short, incredulous laugh. "I've been practically _worshiping_ the guy since…who knows how long. His autobiography was always _somewhere_ in my room – I was _obsessed_ with this whole idea of…working with…I don't know, my dream scientist or something." He took one more look at the laptop screen before shaking his head. "And all of that…it's been a cover-up. A lie. Some kind of lie." Barry pressed his lips together. "It's…after everything – after _years_ of _admiring_ and _looking up to him_ , I keep finding it so… _strange_ to see him. Right here. Preparing everything he was going to say."

Caitlin cast another look at the screen. Then, without a word, she reached over and gently pulled her laptop to a close. Barry didn't seem to protest or react, she noticed (with some relief). She pushed the laptop neatly away from them and tugged out the memory stick. In complete silence, she pushed the memory stick away, too, before turning back around to Barry.

"Barry," Caitlin started to say, leaning forward. " _Barry_ – listen to me."

Barry looked up.

"It's not… _bad_ of you to want to re-watch his video," Caitlin said with a sad smile. "He was my boss, Barry – I cared about him, too. I didn't…" She cleared her throat, trying to get around the boulder-sized lump trying to make its way up. It burned as she swallowed around the boulder – but it was worth it. Quickly blinking her eyes, she said quietly, "I didn't want to believe what he was – _who_ he was – either, remember? Only you were more…prepared to jump to the conclusion. I couldn't even _imagine_ what was going on."

Barry shook his head. "We trusted him," he murmured. "And we didn't even see it coming –" He cut himself off, lifting his head. "I'm never going to be able to forgive myself for that, Caitlin."

"It wasn't your fault – it wasn't _any of our_ faults," Caitlin said pointedly.

Barry reached over to take the memory-stick. He toyed with it around his fingers, letting it slide in and out between them before falling delicately into his palm. Barry's brow furrowed. "It's so _stupid_ ," he said, though Caitlin wasn't sure if he was talking to himself or to her. "Even now, he's still able to surprise us. I don't think I'll ever be able to see him coming…"

"But we won't ever have to see him coming," Caitlin reassured, placing a hand over Barry's arm. Barry's eyes lowered to meet Caitlin's – and for the briefest of moments, a smile twitched over his lips. "Harrison – _Eobard?_ He's gone now, Barry," Caitlin said softly. She reached down and took the memory-stick from Barry's hand.

She lifted it up in front of his eyes. "You're the only one who can make that permanent."

It took one second – two, three – before Barry plucked the memory-stick from Caitlin's hand. She sat back as he tugged her laptop back in front of himself – and she watched silently as Barry deleted the whole video from the memory-stick.

* * *

 **A/N -** I feel like I'm going to get a lot of gasps from the fandom when I say this - I don't really ship Barry Allen with anyone. Not really - to be honest, I really wouldn't mind if he ends up with Iris or if he ends up with Caitlin (though considering what the angle the _Flash_ writers have been taking between Jay and her, I'm suspecting some trouble for the Snowbarry fandom) - but as of now, I think I'm just more into the friendship/platonic-y sides of everyone's relationships. (Which I just think is easier to write about, too.)

This was one of my first times ever actually writing from Caitlin's perspective - and actually exploring with the whole post-season-one-finale aspect of Barry's thoughts considering Eobard/Harrison, so I hope I did alright.

Reviews would be fantastic - constructive criticism is alright, but flames are not!


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